Reasons for Designation
Since 1916 the Porton Down Range has been used for military purposes. As on
the Salisbury Plain Training Area, this has meant that it has not been subject
to the intensive arable farming seen elsewhere on the Wessex chalk. Porton, as
a result, is one of very few surviving areas of uncultivated chalk downland in
England and contains a range of well-preserved archaeological sites, many of
Neolithic or Bronze Age date. These include long barrows and round barrows,
flint mines, and evidence for settlement, land division and agriculture.
Bowl barrows, the most numerous form of round barrow, are funerary monuments
dating from the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age, with most
examples belonging to the period 2400-1500 BC. They were constructed as
earthen or rubble mounds, sometimes ditched, which covered single or multiple
burials. They occur either in isolation or grouped as cemeteries and often
acted as a focus for burials in later periods. Often superficially similar,
although differing widely in size, they exhibit regional variations in form
and a diversity of burial practices. There are over 10,000 surviving bowl
barrows recorded nationally (many more have already been destroyed), occurring
across most of lowland Britain. Often occupying prominent locations, they are
a major historic element in the modern landscape and their considerable
variation of form and longevity as a monument type provide important
information on the diversity of beliefs and social organisation amongst early
prehistoric communities. They are particularly representative of their period
and a substantial proportion of surviving examples are considered worthy of
protection.
The bowl barrow 680m SSE of the southern corner of Moll Harris's Clump is a
comparatively well preserved example of its class which, despite erosion
caused by agriculture and burrowing animals, exhibits a largely original
profile. The visual appearance of the mound suggests some small scale past
excavation but, despite this, archaeological remains will survive providing
information about Bronze Age beliefs, economy and environment.
Details
The monument includes a ditched bowl barrow, the most southerly surviving
example within a scattered group of at least seven round barrows which
straddles a shallow coombe on Porton Down. The barrow, which lies on a gentle
west facing slope, has a mound 12m in diameter and 0.4m high, in the centre of
which are traces of disturbance, possibly resulting from an unrecorded
antiquarian excavation. In places around the mound, most clearly on the west
side, are traces of a ditch c.2m wide. Where not visible on the surface the
ditch will survive as a buried feature.
Excluded from the scheduling are all fence posts together with the
archaeological site marker to the north of the mound although the ground
beneath them is included.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.
